Slight Exaggeration
by beatlechicksteph
Summary: Tony asks Hermione for some help when he spots Pepper at a party.


**One Shot Written for Marvelously Magical Bingo 2018, for my square: Fake Dating**

"Granger, get over here," Tony Stark called from across the room.

Hermione looked up from where she was talking to Agent Coulson about his recent findings in their hunt for more rogue Hydra agents. She saw Tony standing near the food table waving his arm at her, gesturing for her to come over to him.

"Excuse me for a minute, Phil," Hermione said with a smile before walking over to see what Tony wanted.

"What do you need, Stark?" she asked, exasperated.

"Pepper is here," he said, as if that explained everything.

"And?"

"And I may have exaggerated some facts to make her think that I've happily moved on since she so callously broke my heart a few months ago."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "What facts?"

Tony coughed, " I may have implied that you and I were together."

"Tony!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I know."

"Why would you tell her something like that?"

"I don't know!" Tony exclaimed. "I think it's because you're always around, so your name was the first name to come to mind. And we have this flirtatious relationship, so this seemed like a plausible next step in our relationship."

Hermione sighed. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just stand here, maybe let me put my arm around you. That's it. I just need Pepper to believe that I have moved on and it's with someone young and sexy," Tony explained.

Hermione rolled her eyes, and stepped closer to Tony, and the two easily fell into comfortable conversation about what was going on in the lab.

Hermione had been recruited by Nick Fury when he caught wind of the magical community. He had done his research and approached her in her position at the Ministry and asked if she would come to America and work with him and his team. She had just ended things with Ron and was at a crossroads, so she readily agreed, just to get some new scenery for a while.

She soon found out that the position was on the Avengers and she was moved into Stark's Avenger's Tower. She quickly found a place on the team by providing potions and magical aid when needed on missions. Now, Fury was in hiding and Coulson was back, and everything seemed to be in chaos. However, Stark was the one constant in the whole thing. He was always in the lab.

They got on swimmingly, and he was right, they did have a pretty flirtatious relationship. They worked closely in the lab, he on this Iron Man improvements and other inventions he felt the drive to start, she with her own potions brewing and experiments. She actually was the one to comfort him when Pepper left him because he didn't want to give up being Iron Man. In the two years she had been part of the Avengers team, Tony had become one of her best friends.

She felt Tony's arm slide around her shoulders, pulling her in closer to his body. She looked up and could see Pepper looking at them from across the room. She tried to hide the disappointment she felt when she realized he was doing this for her. The sadness that rose in her chest caught her by surprise. When did she start to feel this way about Tony? She turned her head into Tony's chest, to hide the disappointment she was feeling. She felt Tony tighten his grip around her shoulder, and then he placed a kiss on the top of her head.

She turned her head again in time to see Pepper roll her eyes, shake her head, and walk away. With Pepper no longer an audience, Hermione began to move away from Tony, but she was stopped short by his arm not removing itself.

She looked up at Tony and was surprised by the look she saw. If she wasn't wrong, that look almost most definitely looked like…

Her thoughts were cut off when Tony closed the gap between them, capturing her lips with his. Hermione gasped, and Tony took that as a sign to deepen the kiss. As soon as her brain caught up to what was happening, she eagerly returned the kiss. She felt Tony's free hand come up and lace his fingers through her hair, cupping the back of her head. A few minutes later they pulled apart, and Hermione looked up at Tony, confused.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Something I've wanted to do for a long, long time," Tony answered.

"But—"

"Me being Iron Man wasn't the only reason Pepper and I broke up. She saw it before I did, the fact that I was falling in love with you, and out of love with her. I didn't really tell her we were dating. I wasn't trying to make her jealous. I just told you that so I could finally make a move on you."

"So what was with putting on the show for her?" Hermione asked.

"Show? What show? I haven't even seen her since this party started. I don't even know why she would be here," Tony said. "I'm sorry for getting you over here under false pretenses."

Hermione shook her head. So it was just a coincidence Pepper was here and saw them together. Tony wasn't using her at all. He was just shit at making a move.

"Should we even do this? I mean you're my boss…"

"Uh uh," Tony interrupted. "Technically Fury is your boss, and we're teammates. So, wanna grab some dinner with me this week?"

"Tony, we eat dinner together every night," Hermione pointed out with a smile.

"Wanna grab dinner with me at a restaurant, dressed in nice clothes, somewhere not the lab?" Tony asked, smirking.

Hermione laughed. "Yes, that sounds nice."

Tony bent down and captured her lips in a quick kiss before pulling back. "Wanna get out of here? Go somewhere we can just be us for a bit?"

Hermione nodded. "Sounds nice."

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